QUIZ: Successful injury and illness prevention programs

Injury and illness prevention programs offer many benefits for employers and their workers. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines these programs as, “proactive processes that can substantially reduce the number and severity of workplace injuries and illnesses and can alleviate the associated financial burdens on U.S. workplaces.”

The following questions will test your knowledge of successful program elements and practices. The answers to the questions immediately follow this quiz.

1. Workplaces that adopt injury and illness prevention programs experience:a. Significant decreases in workplace injuriesb. Improved work quality and productivityc. Better worker satisfaction and less employee turnoverd. Reduced costse. All of the above

2. How many U.S. states currently require employers to have injury and illness prevention programs?a. 5b. 50 c. 34d. 0

3. To effectively provide management leadership for prevention programs, OSHA recommends all of the following EXCEPT:a. Clearly defining goals and the actions necessary to accomplish themb. Making one or more individuals responsible for implementing the programc. Allowing employees to handle safety issues without guidance d. Providing enough resources to put the program into action

4. According to OSHA, workers should be encouraged to:a. Participate in investigations and inspections and report all injuries, illnesses, hazards, and close calls b. Remain quiet about safety risks they identifyc. Follow existing safety protocols without question d. Develop their own safety system

5. Workplace hazards should be identified and assessed through:a. Available information on hazardsa. Worker inputb. Workplace inspectionsc. Investigating incidents of injury and illnessd. All of the above

6. Once a workplace creates an injury and illness prevention program, it should:a. Develop a prioritized plan to address hazardsb. Determine procedures to protect employees from hazards that cannot be fixed immediately c. Discuss the plan with workers d. All of the above

7. It is important that training and education provided to workers:a. Be conducted in the shortest amount of time possibleb. Is set to music so workers can better remember key pointsc. Is given in a vocabulary and language workers can understandd. Is only given to those workers in charge of safety issues

8. Safety management teams should inform works of how to:a. Report incidents and concernsb. Identify hazardsc. Reduce risks with appropriate precautions and safety suppliesd. All of the above

9. According to OSHA, employers should periodically:a. Instruct workers to attempt to injure themselves to test safety supplies b. Allow employees to disregard safety rules c. Remind employees that productivity is more important than safety d. Review prevention program training with employees

10. Once the safety program has been completely implemented, safety teams should:a. Relax! The workplace is now perfectly safe b. Demote employees who raise concerns about established safety practices c. Strive to constantly evaluate and improve the safety program d. Forget about safety for a while

Injury and illness prevention programs can reduce turnovers and costs, while improving workplace culture, compliance, and productivity. Start an effective program by establishing the key elements recommended by OSHA and providing safety supplies like personal protective equipment to all employees who may be at risk.